


Koala Encounters

by AetherSeer



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Australia Zoo, M/M, Meet-Cute, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-26 12:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20389699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherSeer/pseuds/AetherSeer
Summary: It's kind of a meet-cute, the kind you hear in the stories your grandmother's friends tell about standing at a dance, or in a grocery store, or just walking down the street and looking up to see the person they'll spend the rest of their lives with.Only when it happens, Chandler's hot, sweaty, and more than a little turned around in the middle of the Australia Zoo.





	Koala Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Caps Monthly: August 2019.

Chandler’s a little lost right now, to be completely honest. By lost, he doesn’t mean _ lost, _ but he definitely doesn’t know where he is right now—other than next to a koala exhibit. There is, however, a zookeeper within eyesight, though, so Chandler resettles his baseball cap and starts walking.

By the time Chandler’s within a few meters, the keeper’s vanished into the koala exhibit. Chandler chews on his lip and takes off his sunglasses, squinting at the signs for one that says “entrance.”

He doesn’t find the way to the entrance, but the sign declaring “Koala Encounter, 1:45 p.m.” sounds promising in terms of finding someone who can point him in the right direction.

… so apparently the Koala Encounter is restricted to people who paid extra for the privilege to hold the koalas in question for photo opportunities, but Chandler does end up finding himself lurking at the back of a pack of schoolchildren as an attractive zookeeper talks about the feeding and care of koalas. (Koalas, Chandler learns, are ridiculously picky creatures, only eating certain types of eucalyptus leaves, and turning their nose up at substitutions.)

“—I’m going to need a volunteer,” the zookeeper says with a broad smile. “How about you, in the red?”

Chandler automatically turns around, looking for someone wearing a red shirt, and flushes when the pack of schoolchildren break out in giggles. Chandler hooks a thumb at his chest, and can feel his cheeks heat even as the zookeeper waves him up to where a koala serenely perches on a wooden stand.

“So, what’s your name?” the zookeeper asks. He’s so much _ smaller _ close up, and Chandler has to look down to meet his eyes. And it’s hard to miss the laugh lines around his eyes, and the closely-shaved stubble, and the muscle straining the khaki of his zoo uniform. He’s so painfully Chandler’s type. Checking every single box. Effortlessly.

“Uh, Chandler.” Chandler’s pretty sure he didn’t stutter over his own name, but he’s also sure his blush cannot simply be attributed to the heat.

“Okay, great! Chandler, here,” the zookeeper says brightly, accent rolling Chandler’s name around in his mouth, “is going to be showing everyone how to feed Willow here.”

Chandler swallows hard. Feeding a koala. Okay. he can do that—until the zookeeper turns around and scoops up the koala in his arms, and oh, God, that’s _ cute. _

“Okay, Chandler, if you could pick up a eucalyptus leaf from the pile on the left,” the zookeeper instructs.

Chandler does, and offers it to Willow, who sniffs at it suspiciously and then blatantly turns her face away in a clear rejection. Chandler blinks. Ouch, rejected by a koala.

The zookeeper laughs and turns back to the kids. “Okay, so what Willow knew and Chandler here didn’t is that that leaf is from the wrong tree. It’s still a eucalyptus leaf, but koalas are really, _ really _picky eaters. You have to get the exact kind of eucalyptus that they ate when they were babies or they won’t eat it.

“So, for example … who here is from Melbourne?”

Hands go up, kids waving enthusiastically. The zookeeper laughs. “Okay, so if you were koalas, that would mean you couldn’t eat any food made here in Brisbane. Or Sydney. And if you went to the United States, where Chandler is from, you couldn’t eat anything made there either.”

Chandler opens his mouth to protest—he’s from Saskatchewan, not the States—but the zookeeper is still talking. “So, Chandler, go ahead and pick up a leaf from the pile on the right and try again.”

This time, Willow munches away happily on the leaf Chandler offers to her. The zookeeper keeps chattering away, every so often turning back to Chandler so he can offer a new leaf to the little gray bear—marsupial, actually—and keeping several dozen children enraptured.

“So, who can tell me a fun fact about koalas?” the zookeeper asks, turning to face the children, koala still perched on his hip.

“Zookeeper Nate!”

“Me! Me!”

“I know one!”

The zookeeper—Nate—picks a little girl in the front, who stumbles through a little factoid list in a breathless yell, clearly delighted to be picked. Chandler knows the feeling. “They’re marsoo—marsoup—marsoupeels.”

“Yes,” Nate says with a smile. “Koalas are marsupials, even though we call them koala bears.”

Chandler tunes out most of the rest of the ten minutes Nate spends wrapping up the presentation, content to stand and feed Willow and drink in more details about Nate. Like how his hair curls at the nape of his neck where it’s longer, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiles, the little winking of a chain beneath his collar, and how well his khaki shirt and shorts fit—did he tailor them, or is that just how they’re designed? Either way, Chandler’s appreciative.

It does mean that Chandler’s completely caught off guard when the kids get ushered away to the next exhibit and Nate puts Willow back on her perch, leaving Chandler awkwardly holding a eucalyptus leaf.

“Thanks for helping out, mate. It’s always better to ask someone older to feed the girls than kids. The kids get too excited, and also then you have to take turns with them.”

“Um, I’m actually Canadian” is what Chandler manages in response.

Nate pauses from packing up the leftover leaves. “Oh, sorry. I assumed. I shouldn’t have—”

“—no, it’s okay, I just … thought you should know.”

Nate _ studies _ Chandler then. There really isn’t another word that Chandler can apply to the concentrated onceover Nate’s doing. And then Nate quirks a grin and asks lightly, “Can I treat you to an ice cream? As an apology date?”

Chandler blinks. And blinks again. His brain skitters over the word “date,” but … he’s in Australia. There’s no one to tell him he _ can’t _ go on a date with the attractive zookeeper. “When’s your break?” he asks instead.

“Ah, in a bit,” Nate says after checking his watch. “I’m really just filling in for a staff shortage. Didn’t actually plan on teaching a group of kids and a hot _ Canadian _about koalas today. Speaking of, you were great with her. Would you like to pet her a little?”

Willow’s fur isn’t nearly as soft as Chandler expects, and neither are Nate’s callouses when he takes Chandler’s hand in his own to show Chandler the proper way to pet her. “Just gently, yeah? See, that way she knows you’re not a threat.”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she.”

“Yeah, beautiful,” Chandler repeats absently, but his attention isn’t exactly on the koala. Nate ducks his head, but Chandler can see the shorter man’s ears turning red. So at least Chandler’s not the only one being affected by the flirting. And _ Nate _ had been the one to ask _ Chandler _ on a date, so … Chandler’s pretty sure the interest is mutual.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please let me know if you find a typo. If you'd like to chat about this or other upcoming projects, you can find me on Tumblr at ficcinghell. My inbox is always open.


End file.
